Giving Up Takes Too Long
by tuesdayscoming
Summary: This is a story about Daryl losing grip, and finding hope and a friend in an unlikely situation. The changes in himself are more noticeable than ever, and they're shining through just in time for his life to start again. What happens when the person you have longed for assumes an entirely different situation?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello!**

**This is my first time ever writing a fic! I hope you guys like it. I'd appreciate the feedback!**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

It was a dark night when Daryl first walked onto the street searching for answers that he was certain he wouldn't find. For the past month he's been avoiding eye contact with everyone in his group, especially Maggie. There has been complete turmoil since the loss. The loss that shook everyone and destroyed hope for all. Now that Daryl was alone from the others, he kept walking until he felt like his feet were going to fall beneath him. A lot like the time he chased after Beth, he fell to the ground out of frustration in not knowing where to go next. He felt slightly disappointed in himself for leaving the group, but he knew that Rick would have his back and help the other's to understand.

Daryl didn't know where he was going, and he didn't know where his group was going either. He had a feeling that someone was trailing him, so he assumed it was his group. After all, they've been treating him like a fragile piece of life ever since the loss. Part of him didn't care that he was being followed, but that was until he absolutely lost it and ended up on the ground on the verge of screaming his curses to this life he's been forced to be a part of.

**...**

A stranger has been watching this group for a month now. He noticed that a capable member that they called Daryl, slipped away from the others, so he followed. He didn't realize that he would still be following him all morning, all afternoon, and most of the night. At this point, he was at risk of venturing too far, and right as he turned to head back, he saw the man named Daryl collapse on the street. He was sure that this large and standoffish man was weeping, and suddenly all he wanted to do was comfort the man. Within moments, the stranger began to move from the treeline slowly, and within seconds Daryl had jumped to his feet on high alert.

"Please don't be alarmed, my name is Aaron, I couldn't help but see your distress. Is everything ok? Did something happen? I mean, can I help in some way?"

Daryl kept his crossbow aimed at the shadow of this man that called himself Aaron, "Don' take another step, I'm gon be on my way."

Aaron stepped out further, because after watching this man, he was so sure that he didn't want to hurt anyone.

"Listen, I only want to help you. I saw you with your group earlier, and I've realized you're going through some things that you're trying to work out. I think I can help you with some stability if you're up for it."

Daryl takes a few hostile steps towards Aaron, with his crossbow centered between Aaron's eyes, "Scuse me? You say you saw me before? You been the one following me?"

"I was only making sure you were good people. I have a cam-"

"Nobody asked you to make sure of anythin', you want me to stalk you around? You want to be watched while you take a piss?"

"I assure you I didn't watch you while you wer-"

"Go. Now. I'm gon' give you thirty seconds to move out of my sight."

Fifteen seconds of silence proceeded. Aaron is on edge, still sure that Daryl doesn't want to hurt anyone, but torn on what to do. He wants so badly to take this man and show him how easy life can be in this terrible world they're living. At the same time, he was beginning to think that this man had walls that were more stable than the great wall of China. Aaron may or may not be pushing his luck, but twenty seconds have passed now.

"Give me two minutes to explain. You've been through a lot and I'm good people. Take a chance. It wouldn't kill you to have a little faith that I'm telling the truth. Please."

Thirty seconds have now passed and Aaron is still alive. Daryl froze. His arms started shaking with his crossbow still drawn. He slowly released his grip and tried to steady his stance. Aaron could see something flash through his eyes and an emotion pass through his face that had no other explanation besides heartbreak and pain. He didn't know whether he should ask what changed his mind, or if he should stay silent. He chose silence, and decided to let Daryl be the first to speak.

"You have your two minutes."

"Thank you. What's your name?"

"One minute 50 seconds."

"Ok, wow, so, I'm Aaron. I'm a scout for a community up where your group is headed, or was headed earlier this morning. We have electricity, water, stability, and each other. I watched your group for the past two weeks, because it's my job to make the call on if we should welcome you into our community or not. You guys treated each other like family and that's what we wan-"

"One minute."

"Oh my, ok. That's what we want. We've recently began visiting all of the hospitals within the area and a little further out, in order to get supplies. We found a small group of people at one, and ended up recruiting a doctor. So yes, we have a doctor as part of our community as well, which as you know is a necessity these days. He's great. We met him as he was saving a girl with a pretty nasty head wound. After we saw his skill and knowledge, we couldn't not accept him into our place. We turn away some and we acc-"

"Wait. You-"

Aaron panics and interrupts Daryl, "I know I'm past a minute ju-"

"NO, STOP. Where is this doctor from?"

"Oh, we went as far as Atlanta so we could rummage the state hospital, Grady. We knew they would have a ton of supp-"

"This girl, she's from Grady? Or was she one of yours?"

Aaron raised his eyebrow at the lack of questions about the bigger picture, which was the community and safe living opportunity he was offering Daryl.

"She was from Grady, I guess. I assure you we're open to all kinds of people as long as they're-"

Daryl cuts him off again.

"Is she blonde? Was it a gunshot wound?"

"Yes and yes. What are you reaching for here? Were you at Grady?"

Daryl let out a gasp and dropped back down to the street on his knees. His vision became blurry from the tears building up in both eyes. He felt dizzy. Aaron ran by his side to try to support him from tipping over.

Daryl looked at Aaron before whimpering, "Beth."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Breathe. Take slow breaths and count down from ten. Stop showing weakness. This was repeating in Daryl's head until he regained his composure. He realized that he had just became vulnerable and given so much away to this stranger. Then again, he knows Beth, maybe. Or, he says he knows someone who sounds like Beth. How long has he been following him exactly? He doesn't seem like an evil man, like so many him and his group have run into before.

He stared at Aaron watching him slightly flinch under the inspection of Daryl's deep blue judging eyes. The longer he held his penetrating gaze on Aaron, the more he could tell that Aaron was telling the truth, and that he only wanted to find the good people that were left in the world. This only reminded him of Beth even more. She once told him that there were still good people, and he started actually believing that because of her. Daryl couldn't begin to describe what he was feeling right now, and why he reacted the way that he did, so he stopped reacting. He kept conversation to a minimum, and stopped making eye contact.

**…**

Aaron didn't know what to think of this situation. He wasn't sure what this man had been through, but he's clearly on some sort of level of messed up. Who isn't though, given the current state of the world. One minute he's having a nervous breakdown, the next he's brewing up a hurricane with his eyes.

"I believe Beth is her name. She hasn't spoken much since she woke up. She has a friend that came along with her, and he hasn't shared much either. I think they both had a pretty rough time before we found them, even outside of getting in some sort of gun fight."

"Mmm.. Names Daryl. I'll come with ya to check out-yer place. We better get movin'."

"How about we head out when it gets light out? It'll be safer."

"Nah, we'll cover more distance goin' now."

" Alrighty.. I guess you're the boss."

**…**

They've been walking for about six hours, and the sky was just starting to get a shade or two lighter. Daryl had not said a word for the entire time, he was trailing behind Aaron about two feet. Every time Aaron turned around to check on Daryl, Daryl would stop dead in his tracks until Aaron picked back up the pace.

Aaron broke the silence, "We should be able to head off your friends if we start trying to track them in about two hours. That should be around where you left them."

"No, an I didn' leave em'. Don' say stuff you don' know about."

"You're right. Don't take this the wrong way, but I do know you walked away from them and ended up thirty or more miles away."

"I ain't bringin' my group somewhere I ain't ever been before."

**…**

They arrived at the spot where Daryl first started walking. All he could think about was that Beth may be at this guys camp. How could she possibly be at this guys camp? He couldn't wrap his head around this. He saw her get shot in the head, he held her lifeless body, and he watched Tyrese put her in the car when everything went to shit. They all wanted her to be safe from walkers. He couldn't bare the thought of her being somewhere with her insides ripped out and being exposed. That couldn't happen. She deserved better than what she got. He was sure she was dead. How could she have just let herself out of the car with a gunshot wound to the head? This doesn't add up. They never would have left her behind if it hadn't been for the herd. There was no choice.

Aaron said there's a friend with her. Who would Beth have with her? One of those asshole cops from the hospital?

"We left her behind."

Aaron turned around to face him, "What was that Daryl?"

"Beth. We all thought she was good as dead, and we left her there. There was a herd. We put her in a car, and we left."

"If this is in fact your Beth that we're talking about here, then everything will be ok. She'll know you're a good man and that you had no choice."

Daryl looked at Aaron with distaste, "She ain't MY Beth."

"I just meant your groups Beth, sorry. When I was watching you, I just knew that you were survivors. You're not just a group of people that gives up because life is tough now. You'll be there for each other and you'll survive to tell the story. Daryl, you led your people to safety when the storm hit. I knew then that I needed to bring back someone like you, someone who would make a difference in our community."

"I ain't nobody. I just do what I have to do to survive."

"That's everything Daryl."

**…**

Aaron stopped suddenly, causing Daryl to jolt into action, raising his crossbow and scanning his nearby surroundings.

Daryl visibly uneasy, whispered, "What? You see something?"

"I hear something up ahead. Walkers I think. Sounds like quite a few."

"Alright, let's jus keep movin' quiet."

This didn't seem like a good idea and Daryl knew it. As it was, Daryl hadn't noticed a sound up ahead, and Aaron had. Was Aaron a tracker and as good as Daryl was in this shitty world they now lived in? It made Daryl uncomfortable that he had been so deep into his self guilt that he's just aimlessly been following the heels of this stranger, Aaron.

Aaron didn't even try to hide the concern on his face, "Let's just stay alert. We'll be there soon."

Within minutes, walkers came from each direction. It looked like the start of a decent sized herd. Actually, a decently large herd. The only clear opening was behind them. There was no hesitation made from either Daryl or Aaron. They worked their way through the walkers on the back left side, and continued on until they found an overhang of a tree that they could crouch under. Aaron jumped in first urging Daryl to hurry, and only after a moment of taking in the situation did Daryl follow him into the small opening. It took a little effort to squeeze out of view from the passing walkers, and by the time Daryl was fully inside, he was so close to Aaron that it was suffocating.

Daryl awkwardly was thinking of ways to lighten the situation, until finally, "I guess if you were gon' try to kill me, I'd suggest tryin' now."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

It seemed like they were crammed together for at least thirty minutes. Daryl has officially felt parts of this man that he's only felt on himself. For the better half of this hiding out, it was radio silent for the two of them. Eventually Daryl jumped up out of their spot to check if the coast was clear, so they could keep moving. Aaron didn't know why he felt so responsible for Daryl right now, but it became obvious that he did when he yelled, "Be careful," as he climbed out after him.

**…**

The two of them started back walking towards Aaron's camp in silence once again. Daryl couldn't shake the feeling that Aaron thought he was some incapable redneck. He was tired of being coddled like he would break with just a moments notice. While not paying attention due to being deep in thought, he tripped over a root that was slightly uplifted off of the ground.

"You ok?"

"I ain't no damn little girl, keep movin', we're wastin' too much time. I woulda already been there if I wasn't stuck followin' you."

"Ok, let's pick up the pace then. We're not far out now, we'll be there before dinner time."

**…**

Daryl and Aaron step out on the road, and Aaron points straight ahead to a large gate.

"That's it. That's Alexandria. It's safe in there, you'll see."

"Yeah, I've heard that before with places. Damn near got eaten at the last safe place."

"I think you'll like it here Daryl, I'm really glad you came back with me."

Finally reaching the gate, some guy opens it up and exchanges pleasantries with Aaron. This almost seemed too normal and pleasant for Daryl. The guy introduces himself as Spencer. Daryl nods and pushes past him, making sure he's ready for anything at this point. Aaron notices Daryl's body language shift to tense.

"It's ok, someone has to stay here to unlock the gates. We try to run a tight ship."

"Good, where are your people? Why ain't they concerned about a newcomer? I don' see anyone."

"They're probably all inside of their homes, it's nearly dinner time."

"Homes? This place is like a fuckin' neighborhood? Screw it. Where's Beth?"

Aaron patiently began walking Daryl towards their medical building. He knew that he wouldn't relax and settle in until he saw this notorious Beth person that has him on edge. Before Aaron could finish pointing properly at the door, Daryl had ran past him nearly knocking him down. Daryl swung open the door and started yelling, "Beth!" No response.

"Where is she?! What have your people done with her?!"

"Daryl, calm down. We haven't done anything. Have you checked upstairs and in the back?"

Daryl pushed Aaron against the front door, "The hell you mean, don' tell me to calm down! She would have heard me yellin' for her if she was here!"

"Daryl! Please try to stay calm. She's here somewhere! We'll find her!"

Just then a older man walked towards the door from outside, "Have we got a problem here?"

Daryl had Aaron's face slightly pushed against the door, but he saw him out of the corner of his eye, "Morgan! Daryl here is trying to find your friend that came from Grady with you."

"I see. Well, Daryl, do you mind letting go of our friend Aaron here, and then we can discuss what business you have with our other friend."

"Scuse me? My business? What's your business with her?! Have you touched her?! Are you one of those dirty fuckin' cops from that hell hole?!"

"As soon as you calm down, we can have a rational conversation, but until then, I'm going to go about what I came here to do."

Daryl watched the older man walk over to a table, and he grabbed a bag. It appeared that he was packing up a few things that was left on the table. He noticed something grey being pushed into the bag, and it looked like a sweater. Beth's sweater.

"Is that Beth's sweater? Why is Beth's sweater here and she's not? Is she ok?"

"Hi Daryl, I'm Morgan. Nice to meet you as well." Morgan chuckles.

"Mmm, yeah.. fine. I'm calm. You gon' answer me?"

"She's fine. She left this building and went into her permanent house with me yesterday. I'm picking up the rest of her things. She got ahold of new clothes since being here, so this sweater wasn't a priority when we left leaving."

"Where is she? I need to see her."

"I'm afraid that's going to have to wait, Daryl. She's resting right now. I'll talk with her in the morning to make sure it's ok to have you over for breakfast."

"Breakfast? You gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me."

**…**

Aaron rushed after Daryl as he trailed Morgan.

"Daryl, I really don't think this is a good idea right now. I'm suppose to be taking you to meet Deanna. All people we bring in need to meet with her first, so she can officially approve. She's our leader here."

Daryl didn't stop walking to answer, "This first."

From a distance, they saw Morgan enter a home, a nice home at that.

Daryl hung his mouth open, "How many of these do your people have?"

"So far, enough for everyone Daryl. We need to get you set up, come on."

"Not yet."

Aaron was nearly shaking he was so nervous. He knew he would need to fight Daryl back, and he also knew he just couldn't do it. When Daryl started walking towards the house, Aaron had no idea what to do next. He knew this wasn't going to be good.

**…**

Daryl went to open the door, it was locked. Without thinking, he kicked the door in.

Aaron ran behind him, "Shit!"

Daryl walked in with Aaron right behind him. He started up the stairs, assuming that's where the bedrooms would be. He saw Morgan come around the corner with a baseball bat, and he narrowly avoided a swing to his head. He was moving so swiftly around the swings that it almost appeared he was dancing with Morgan. One second avoiding a swing to the head, the next second he was swinging open a bedroom door. The first bedroom was empty, but the next bedroom had someone in the bed, facing the opposite way of the door where he was standing. Daryl ducked another swing, and entered the room. Morgan stopped swinging, in fear of it getting violent near where Beth was resting.

Aaron ran up behind them and stood in the door way hoping the worst part of this was over.

Daryl walked carefully along the bedside, until he was right beside the the person laying in the bed. The blanket was covering her face, but he saw blonde stray hairs all over the pillow. He gently moved the blankets to reveal the most beautiful face. Beth's face. Scars and all.

Morgan watched Daryl as he kneeled down beside Beth's bed. It had become obvious that Daryl posed no threat to his little friend, and he felt a little guilty that he was so overprotective. She was clearly Daryl's friend, too. Morgan didn't feel too guilty, though. After finding Beth the way that he had, it's a surprise that he was willing to let her out of his sight at all these days.

Daryl looked up and noticed that Beth had shifted a little in bed. He saw her eyes slowly open.

"D..D..Daryl?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Daryl! Daryl!"

"Beth! S'Ok, I'm here. Not goin' anywhere."

"Daryl. It's you. This isn't a dream? Morgan? You're here. This is real."

Morgan stepped forward, "I'm here. What a scene to wake up to, huh?"

Aaron shifts back and forth on his feet, "Daryl, I'll find you early in the morning so you can meet with Deanna. See all of you later."

Daryl is still kneeling next to Beth's bed. He's in absolute shock. He has so many questions on how this is even possible, but after seeing Beth, it's obvious that she's on pain medication and does in fact need her rest.

"I'm real, I'm here Beth. We all thought we lost you. Morgan told me to wait til the morning, and I prolly should have.. but I… I just needed to see you to know that you're really alive and ok."

Beth begins weeping, "I never thought I would see any of my family again. I'm so lucky that I found Morgan, I don't know if I'd be here without him. The others? Are they ok?"

"Everythings fine, and everybody's fine."

"Why aren't they here with you? They're ok?"

"They ain't exactly here at this camp. I didn' know anythin about this place, and I wanted to make sure it was safe."

"We've been here a couple of weeks now I think. Everybody has been very nice. Maggie, she knows that I'm here?"

"Not exactly. Wasn't with our group when Aaron found me. I found out you may be here, and I jus started headin' here. I will go find them to tell them tomorrow. Don' worry."

"Ok Daryl. I'm glad you found me. I'm glad you found the rest of our group, I knew they were alive."

"Yeah, you were right girl. I'm gon' let you get your rest."

Beth smiled at Daryl, "Alright Dixon. Morgan, I want Daryl to stay here with us."

"Ok. I'll find some blankets for you and put them downstairs on the couch, Daryl."

"If it ain't a problem… I can find somewhere else for tonight if I gotta."

Beth started to sit up but flinched in pain, "No, you'll stay here. There's no arguing about that!"

Morgan jumped to get Beth back down on her back, "Beth! You know you can't move around that fast yet. Get some rest, Daryl will be downstairs on the couch for tonight."

Daryl got off of his knees next to Beth. He lightly brushed her hand that was nearest to him and gave her a small grin.

"G'night Beth."

Daryl made his way downstairs to scope out where he will be sleeping. Morgan came downstairs shortly after, carrying a pillow and some blankets.

"Uh.. Thanks Morgan, I'm uhh.. I'm sorry 'bout how I was earlier, and thanks for helpin' Beth. It seems like you saved her life. I dunno how to repay you for that."

"No payment needed. Knowing our girl has been a great enough gift. She's a strong and special girl. Stubborn, but strong. We'll see you in the morning. It appears that we're going to have that breakfast after all."

"Mmm...I'm gonna step outside, I'll be back in soon."

…

Daryl's heart was about to beat out of his chest. He wanted to know what happened to Beth, but he knew it was too soon to start interrogations. Seeing her in pain like that was about all he could handle at the moment.

His world had been crushed before, and now it just snapped all together with hope, all because he gave Aaron a chance. Where did Aaron even go? He just disappeared. Daryl vaguely remembered him saying goodbye. He decided to take a quick walk. It's been awhile since he could walk freely without an immediate threat. He lit up one of his remaining cigarettes, and inhaled deeply.

While walking the street, he saw house after house lined up just like a normal neighborhood back before the world went to hell. This is something that Daryl didn't think existed anywhere. All of the houses had some sort of light on. This was all so new and almost overwhelming for Daryl. He heard something move to his left, so he turned towards the house and saw Aaron sitting on the porch.

"Hey Daryl, I didn't think I'd see you until tomorrow."

"I'm tryin' to tire myself out, an I wanted a smoke."

"Well, it's been a long day. I don't blame you. I take it that she was the Beth you were looking for?"

"Yeah. She's part of our family. I wanna go get the rest of my people tomorrow to tell em' that she's alive."

"That shouldn't be a problem, but we definitely need to meet with Deanna first. She's already probably wondering why we didn't stop by earlier."

"As long as it doesn't take a lot of time.. fine. I dunno how far my group has gotten, and I don' wanna risk the tracks bein' messed up."

"I can go with you, I'm a pretty decent tracker myself. We can find them quicker together."

"I figured you tracked. An hey...um.. I feel a little bad that I accused you and your people of hidin' Beth, an for pushin' you around. I wasn't thinkin' and I shouldn' of put my hands on you like that."

"Don't worry about it. It's the most action that I've had in months. Aside from being stuck in the tree with you of course."

"What? What do you mean? Man, I'm not gay or anythin', don' go gettin' the wrong idea."

"Relax Daryl, it was a joke. Lighten up."

"I am relaxed. I'm goin' to head back to the house."

…

Daryl was woken up by movement downstairs. It was morning, and he smelled food. This isn't any kind of food he's smelt in a while. It smells like biscuits. Daryl sat up and wiped his tired eyes. He made his way into the kitchen, only to see Morgan opening the oven. It is biscuits.

Morgan gave Daryl a warm but cautious grin, "Good morning sunshine."

Daryl is always taken aback by how straight forward Morgans comments are.

"Mornin'. Smells good. Is Beth up?"

"I don't think she is. You can go wake her, if you want."

Daryl headed up the stairs, and knocked on the door to the bedroom he had been in last night. He didn't hear a response. While admittedly panicking a little, he just opened the door without waiting any longer for confirmation that she heard his knock. Beth was still sound asleep. He walked up beside her, and lightly shook her shoulder. Her eyes opening gave him the best feeling, and he couldn't even explain the feeling to himself or anyone else even if he wanted to.

"Good morning Daryl. You weren't a dream after all, were ya?"

"I was thinkin' the same thing about you when I woke up."

"I will go ahead and get dressed. Will you stand outside for minute so you can help me get downstairs? I still get a little dizzy sometimes."

"Sure.. Just holler when ya need me."

After a couple of moments, Daryl heard some struggling sounds.

"Beth, ya need some help?"

"Actually, yeah, I think I do."

Daryl opened the door, and Beth's bare back was turned to him. He stood there for a moment staring, before he realized what he was doing. He quickly shook himself alert.

"I can't get my shirt over my head. It's still too sore and I can't lift my left arm up high enough. Will ya pull it over and down for me?"

Daryl slowly put the shirt over Beth's head, being careful to not graze any of her injured areas. He guided her arms carefully through the arm hole, and began sliding her shirt down over her neck and shoulders. His hand gently grazed her side underneath her underarms, and he froze. He didn't wake up today expecting to walk in on a shirtless Beth Greene, and then have to put her shirt on for her. It didn't seem that Beth noticed him freeze, because she took over and pulled the rest of her shirt down herself, covering her lower back from his view.

"Thanks Daryl! Now I just need help down the stairs and then I'm good to go!"

Daryl grabbed a hold of her small waist, and helped her step by step. Her hip was glued to his side for support. This is something else that Daryl didn't wake up expecting to do. They made it downstairs and into the kitchen. He sat at the table across from Beth, who had her trademark big bright smile on. Her smile was one thing that made Daryl relax and assured him that everything would be alright in the end. He appreciated that she still had that effect on him, even if she didn't know how much she was helping, just by simply smiling.

"You're quite happy today princess. I guess I should be happy that Daryl followed me home last night!"

"Uhh.. Sorry again.."

Beth laughed, "Daryl! He's only teasing."

…

Daryl informed Beth and Morgan that he was scheduled to meet with Deanna this morning, and afterwards he and Aaron planned to go find the rest of their family. This made Beth smile even wider. He loved that smile.

Walking down the street, it seemed a lot more lively. He saw people jogging like everything was normal, and kids riding their bikes completely carefree. He began walking towards the house he saw Aaron at last night, and he knocked on the front door. A man answered, but it wasn't Aaron.

"Uh, hi. I'm looking for Aaron."

"Hi! I'm Eric. Aaron is upstairs. Come in."

"Oh.. ok.."

Daryl followed Eric into the living room, and had a seat on the couch.

"Can I get you anything? A Drink?"

"No I'm ok. I jus need to get goin', I'm suppose-ta meet your leader, Deanna. Aaron said he'd take me."

"I see. I'll let him know you're here."

Eric walked upstairs. A few minutes later Daryl heard part of a muffled argument. He couldn't make out any words, but he recognized the anger in their tones. Shortly after the arguing stopped, they both walked downstairs. Aaron made immediate eye contact with Daryl.

"Good morning Daryl, are you ready?"

"Yeah, ready to go."

Aaron and Daryl walked down the street quietly. Normally, Daryl would mind his own business and not care about other people's drama, but he couldn't help be curious about Eric and also the arguing.

"Eric your brother?"

Aaron laughed, "No, Eric is my boyfriend, or ex boyfriend as of recently."

"Oh, I heard you arguin', I didn' mean to, thin walls."

"Don't worry about it. Sometimes we argue so loud that I'm sure the whole neighborhood can hear us."

Daryl laughed, "I've been in similar situations growin' up."

…

Aaron pointed towards Deanna's house. Daryl walked up to the house, and knocked.

"Hello Aaron, and you must be Daryl. My name is Deanna. Welcome to Alexandria."

Daryl walked in, but Aaron stayed behind.

"I'll wait outside, and we can go look for your people once Deanna gives us the go ahead."

Deanna made motions for Daryl to follow her. She lead him into a small living room area, and signaled for Daryl to sit on one of the couches.

"I'm glad you decided to join us, Daryl. Here at Alexandria, we practice having transparency throughout our community. That being said, do you mind if I record our conversation?"

"For what?"

"Just so everyone is on the same page, and so this isn't a conversation hidden from our people, and hopefully your people soon."

"Ok, go ahead."

After a series of questions about where Daryl's been, who he's been with, what he does for his group, and so on, Daryl walked outside to join Aaron.

Aaron jumped up, "How'd it go?"

"Ok I guess, I told her what she wanted to know an hear."

Aaron shook his head. They both started walking towards the gate.

Aaron stopped, "Do you have everything you need? There's no telling how far they've gotten from here."

"Come on, let's go."

…

They finally arrived back to where they both had last seen the group. Daryl picked up on some tracks, so they began following them. Working together, they were going through the tracks with ease and speed. They were probably going at least twice as fast as they normally do when they're tracking alone. They've made a lot of progress in such a short amount of time. Aaron began thinking about how they were making a pretty good team, when Daryl stopped him by holding his arm out in front of Aaron.

"We're startin' to see newer tracks an it's going to start gettin' dark, and I know my people will make camp at night. It's also gonna rain, so we need to start settin' something up."

"I brought a tent for us just in case."

"Good, let's go ahead an set it up in this bush area. It'll be a little bit hidden."

They set the tent up in about fifteen minutes. Aaron started a fire, while Daryl skinned a squirrel he had caught earlier.

"Dinner."

Aaron gave a small smile, "Yum."

After dinner, Daryl started looking at the tent, and he started to realize just how small the tent actually was. It hadn't started raining yet, and it's possible that it may not even rain tonight. It's pretty likely that it will, but he chose to ignore that.

Aaron crawled into the tent, and spread out the blanket that he brought.

"I'm going to start winding down. You coming?"

"Nah, I think I'm gonna sleep out here an keep watch. The sky looks like it might clear up."

"Ok, but if it starts raining, don't barge in and get me wet! I don't care how cold it is outside!"

About an hour later, Daryl had dozed off while resting his head on a log. Daryl had already put out the fire after Aaron went to sleep, so that way it didn't give away their position while they weren't awake and prepared. Daryl soon woke up to check on everything out of habit. He sat up and stretched, then looked toward the tent. Everything seemed fine. He put his head back down, and felt a rain drop on his head. Daryl remembered what Aaron said about it being cold outside, and remembering that only seemed to make it feel colder. Another raindrop, then another. Now there was a stream of rain. In a few moments it would be pouring. Daryl made a split decision and started pacing quickly towards the tent, unzipped it, and dove inside just as the light drizzle turned into a torrential downpour. The sudden movements woke Aaron up.

"I thought I told you not to bring your wetness in here after you learned that it was going to rain the hard way?"

Out of no where, Daryl wrung his shirt out over Aaron's legs before laying down.

Daryl's smirk was hidden by the dark, "My bad."

"Daryl… Goodnight."

…

The next morning they started out pretty early, hoping to get a head start on the others. The rain washed away most of the tracks, so they were hoping that getting a head start, and remembering the general direction would be enough.

Daryl paused, "We left off headin' that way, so let's keep goin' and just pay extra attention to the trail."

They walked for about an hour before they saw fresh tracks. Aaron leaned down to look closer.

"These are fresh. They must have camped here or somewhere close. We're not that far behind. Wait, there's blood over here too."

"This musta jus happened, an if someones hurt, they can't be movin' that fast. Let's hurry."

They picked up their speed and started seeing visibly newer tracks on the trail they were on. A little further up into the wood, they started hearing shuffling. It didn't sound like walkers. It sounded like a larger person was carrying something, or someone. They both picked up their pace to try to cut the person off, and right when they saw who it was, Daryl immediately wished he hadn't.

Daryl put his hands on his head. He stared at his friend, who was now staring back with the saddest eyes.

"Tyrese, what happened?!"

"I don't know. I walked away for just a minute, and came back to her passed out with a gash on her head. The others are up ahead, we were breaking down the camp site. I don't know what to do. I was trying to catch up to Rosita, maybe she can help."

Daryl stepped back, "Aaron, start takin' Tyrese and Carol back to Alexandria. I'll run ahead an find the others."

"On it. Tyrese, there's a doctor there. Let's go!"

Daryl started running as fast as he could in the direction Tyrese pointed. He began hearing bits of muffled conversation and he knew he was close. He saw figures through the trees. A few more minutes and he'd be right on top of them.

"Rick! Rick!"

Rick stopped dead in his tracks, recognizing Daryl's voice laced with panic.

"Daryl, we're here! Everybody, stop."

Daryl finally made it to his group, quickly glancing between all of the faces to make sure everyone was here together.

"Carol's been hurt. Dunno how, but Tyrese is takin' her back to a camp I found called Alexandria, let's go."

Rick signaled everyone to stay where they were, "We're not just gonna stroll up into this place with our injured people and my kids. I don't know anything about this camp called Alexandria. Remember Terminus? Maggie and Glenn, run up an stop Tyrese!"

Daryl grabbed Maggie's arm as she began making motions to run, "Maggie, wait! Beth's there, she's alive! She survived!"

Maggie stopped immediately, and her face looked like she had just been hit by a semi truck.

"What? Bethy? No.."

* * *

**Thanks for reading! In case you didn't see earlier, this is my first time writing a fanfic. I had this story in my head, so I wanted to just quickly get it all out. Hence the quick updating in the past 24 hours!**

**I'd love some feedback from you guys to know if I should continue writing this story. I'm going to hold off on posting for the rest of this week, unless I get motivated to post sooner! :P**

**I hope you loved it!**


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